Monthly Archives: September 2021

Two More Leafy Giants Saved From the Saw!

We are pleased to announce that in the last several days Good News Tree Service, Inc. of Wilsonville has saved two more giant trees from eradication.

The first tree was a large 150 to 175 year-old native Oregon white oak tree that the property owner received bid from a well-known, local tree service to remove. We were also asked to submit a bid for its removal, but after interviewing the owner about his intentions for his land, I presented him with some alternatives that included saving the tree. Sadly, my competitor did not even discuss these options with the owner. It’s all about money, money, money with some tree services. Why let a perfectly savable tree stand in the way of making a few extra bucks?! Shame on the other guys!!!

In the end, the owner saved a boat load of money, prevented diminishing the the value of his property aesthetically and economically by keeping the tree, and did the right things for humanity and the earth by saving a glorious, ancient oak tree.

Now Good News Tree Service, Inc. didn’t make a dime off this deal, but we walked away feeling good because we did the right thing!

The second tree was an enormous Douglas-fir located next to someone’s house that was damaged in the recent ice storm. The owners were intent on removing it, even though they liked the tree. They were afraid that more branches might drop on their house in another storm—a justifiable concern.

However, after presenting the owners some options that would lessen the likelihood of future damage to their home, they decided to keep the tree. Good News Tree Service, Inc. will go in and clean up the storm damage, and in the process save a perfectly good tree.

Now that’s some good news, and one of several reasons why we are called the Good News Tree Service. We believe that we have a divine mission to save as many trees as possible and to help make the world a more beautiful place one tree at a time.

Exploring the Art of Japanese Niwaki-Style Pruning

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This is an example of a Street of Dreams Japanese garden created by the renowned Japanese landscape designer Hoichi Kurisu that Good News Trees Service, Inc. of Wilsonville has been maintaining for more than 20 years for three **different** **home owners.**

Are you frustrated with all of your shrubs being sheared into boring geometric shapes—spheres, ovals, rectangles—or left to grow in a tangled, misshaped mess? How about looking to the East—all the way to Japan—for some inspiration to revitalize your garden?

When you think of a Japanese garden, what comes to mind? Probably pagoda lanterns, pine trees and Japanese maples pruned in a curiously artful manner, and water features including koi ponds, waterfalls and meandering streams. If you find this appealing, have you considered bringing some of these elements into your own garden in the way that you prune your shrubs and trees? Then consider niwaki.

The Japanese word niwaki simply means “garden trees.” The art of the Japanese niwaki pruning style involves coaxing out of a tree those features believed to signify the essence of a tree including its gnarled trunks, outstretched branches and rounded canopies (Niwaki—The Pruning, Training and Shaping of Trees the Japanese Way, p. 9, by Jake Hobson).

Niwaki is similar to the art of bonsai pruning, with which most people are familiar, except not in a miniaturized form, but involving full-sized trees. Many of the bonsai pruning techniques can be applied to the larger trees and shrubs in the garden but on a grander scale and, obviously, without the same attention to minute detail. Therefore, you can lose the mini-pruners, tweezers and scissors.

In the niwaki pruning style, trees are often made to look older than they really are by encouraging a broad trunk supporting gnarled and drooping branches, and by giving them a more open and attractive appearance so that the structure or architecture of the tree is visible through the foliage. Trees can be made to imitate windswept or lightning struck trees in the wild, which also gives them the appearance of age (A Practical Guide to Japanese Gardening, pp. 240–241, by Charles Chesshire).

Both the bonsai and niwaki styles of pruning attempt to replicate mature trees—some hundreds of years old—as they appear in nature after having endured the rigors of time including weather, pests and adverse growing conditions. We often see such trees clinging to cliffs overhanging the ocean’s shoreline, or in windswept canyons and gorges, or perched high on a mountain side. It is also not uncommon to see such gnarled trees in ancient forests, or growing in an open meadow. In all of these scenarios, time and gravity have caused the trees’ branches to naturally sag gracefully, and as the weaker branches get shaded out by the stronger and larger ones, the trees develop a naturally layered look. When we see such a tree, we are inspired by its character, beauty, symmetry or asymmetry and overall appearance of antiquity, stability and permanence. We sometimes even poetically attribute human characteristics to such trees such as wisdom, grace, dignity and nobility.

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Bragging About the Trees We’re NOT Cutting Down!

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While most tree services like to demonstrate their machismo over the ginormous trees that they have cut down using back-breaking heavy chainsaws, cranes and all sorts of high tech climbing paraphernalia and rigging equipment, Good News Tree Service, Inc. in Wilsonville is not your ordinary tree service. Here’s why.

Many tree services brag about tree preservations, but, sadly, any more, too many are inclined to remove Mrs. Smith’s tree to make a quick buck, rather than explaining to Mrs. Smith why and how she can save her tree. Sure it means less money for the coffers of the tree service, but isn’t it the right thing to do—to save a tree, if you can? After all, by keeping her tree, Mrs. Smith is likely to save a boatload of money. She’s also keeping a beautiful tree that adds aesthetic and monetary value to her property. It’s also doing right by the environment and the planet by keeping a large tree around. It’s also called the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (a quote from Jesus/Yeshua in Matthew 7:12 in the Bible).

Unlike most tree services, we also do plant health care. We fertilize, treat against pests and otherwise do our best to improve the health and vigor of trees and shrubs employing various means and methods. Our success rate at saving ailing trees and shrubs is high.

Yes, we do a lot of tree removals, but where possible, we save trees that our clients have told us that other tree services recommended removing.

Here are some photos of a few trees that other tree services recommended removing or that our clients wanted us to remove, but we showed them how they could save their trees instead. Yes, we could have made a quick buck removing these trees, but we didn’t feel that is was the right thing to do, so we educated our clients about the merits of keeping them, and they happily agreed! We walked away with a happy, richer client, and we are able to sleep that night with a clear conscience knowing that we did the right thing. Isn’t that what it should be all about? We think so. HalleluYah!

Trees that Good News Tree Service, Inc of Wilsonville, Oregon has saved in the last few months:

September in the Garden—A To Do List

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This guide is tailored for the western valleys of Oregon and Washington.

YOU can help to make the world a better, a more friendly, loving and beautiful place by being a good steward of the spot on this earth that you are privileged to be borrowing for a time—your garden. Nathan, the Treevangelist, urges you to treat your spot on this planet like your own personal Garden of Eden paradise. Then notice the joy that it will bring to you! This is your Divinely mandated responsibility. Your trees, shrubs, flowers and the wildlife in your yard will express their smiling appreciation back to you as they radiate love, joy and beauty bursting forth with vibrant and verdant life. The following garden checklist will help you to do just that.

Even though fall is knocking on the door with cooler nights, the daytime temps, though a little cooler, are still way up there, and our severe drought continues with no rain in sight. At the same time, as our forests burn up, the smell of smoke is often in the air. Ugh! What’s next? It has been a tough season here in the West, and a tough year for everyone, all things considered.

But despite it all, there is still joy to found in the garden. The flowers are still smiling joyfully as the hummingbirds show off their aerial acrobatics in their dive bombing raids of the flower’s sweet nectar. The trees are happily waving their leafy arms in the gentle breezes, the green grass is still growing, and, yes, the weeds are too. So extricate yourself from that black, depressing hole called watching or reading the news, take a break and get out in the garden for some rest and rejuvenation!

While you’re at it, take a few moments and scroll back through this same Good News Tree Service, Inc. blog and check out the archives for any tree and plant care articles that you may have missed. Also check out our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvcu2lL9NpgoXQtUFYyQShw, our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GoodNewsTreeService/ and our main website at https://goodnewstree.com. Please enjoy!

Readers’ suggestions on how to improve this list are gladly solicited. If you, the reader, have any suggestions for additions to this month’s list, please put them in the comments section of this article, and I will add them to the list. Thank you in advance! — Nathan, the Treevangelist

Tree and Shrub Care

Fruit trees: This is an optimal time to prune trees that are done fruiting, since wounds will heal more quickly in warm weather. This is a good time to reduce the height of overgrown fruit trees, since they are likely to produce fewer water sprouts now then when pruned in the spring.
Maples (including Japanese maples): Monitor the leaves of all maples and other trees and shrubs for symptoms of the potentially lethal verticillium wilt fungal disease. If you see branch dieback, call Good News Tree Service, Inc. Other trees susceptible to this persistent and potentially lethal fungal root disease include ash, box elder, golden rain tree, mountain ash, prunus spp. (cherry and plum), redbud, tree of heaven or silk tree, southern magnolia, tulip tree.
Mulch: Apply two to three inches of mulch around all trees and ornamental shrubs. This helps to fertilize the plants and feed the soil, and also protects them against weed growth and loss of water when the warmer weather returns.
Pines: Once the hot weather has passed, you can begin to prune your pines.

Pruning of trees and shrubs: You can do all aesthetic pruning of all ornamental shrubs and trees (except pines) at any time of the year including summer. Don’t over-prune the top crowns of thin barked trees (e.g. Japanese maples, flowering cherries), since the sun’s UV rays can cause trunk and branch bark dessication resulting in cracking and dieback of sapwood and even heartwood resulting in entry points for diseases and potential structural failure of branches and trunks.
Be careful not to do major pruning during periods of hot weather, since doing so exposes tender leaves underneath that haven’t acclimated to the sun’s ultraviolet rays yet, since they have been shielded by the layer of leaves you’ve just removed by pruning. Sun scald of these tender leaves may occur, especially on southern and southwestern sides of the plant. Sun scalded leaves won’t kill the plant, but it looks unsightly and diminishes the plant’s ability to photosynthate (produce food for itself).
Pruning of large trees: Most trees in the temperate western valleys of Oregon and Washington can be pruned anytime of the year. If you’re not sure what to do, or how to do it, call Good News Tree Service, Inc. for a consultation, pruning lessons or to have us do the pruning for you. It is likely best to wait for cooler weather to prune stressed or sick looking trees. Call us if you have questions about this.
Prune fast growing ornamental shrubs (e.g. laurel, privet, photinia, laurustinus, barberry) that are beginning to look shabby. You may need to prune them again in the early summer for a more neat and manicured look.
Tree and shrub removal and stump grinding can be done all year long.
Trees: Have an ISA Certified Arborist with an ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (like Good News Tree Service, Inc.) inspect your large trees for the potential of failure due to weak root systems and defects in trunks and branches. This can be done anytime of the year.
Conifer trees that are drought stressed: The Willamette Valley remains in a severe drought. Large native trees (e.g. Douglas-fir, western redcedar, spruce, native firs) are getting stressed and some are dying. If you have a tree that is showing signs of drought stress (e.g. pitch globules exuding from the bark, excess needle drop, yellowing of foliage), then you need to water your tree to save it, or pay the high price to have it removed after it has died. With a whirlybird, impulse or similar sprinkler or soaker hose, saturate the soil under the tree out to the tree’s drip zone (i.e. the outer tip of tree’s crown) for several hours once or twice a week to achieve deep root watering. Typical lawn irrigation systems don’t put out enough water to adequately irrigate the deeper roots of a tree, so don’t rely on your irrigation system to provide the water that large trees need to survive.
Watering: During the hot summer months, well-established trees and larger ornamental shrubs need little or no watering. However, newly planted trees and shrubs will need watering for the first two to three summers until their roots get established. Regular lawn irrigation isn’t sufficient to give trees and shrubs the deep watering they need to survive the summer heat. During warm weather, deep water your new plants at least once per week. During hot weather, twice per week.

Plant Health Care

Deep Root Fertilization: Deep root fertilize to promote healthy root development in preparation for next spring’s growing cycle.
Dogwood Anthracnose: If you missed the spring sprays topical fungal sprays, and you see signs of anthracnose on your tree’s leaves (reddish, purplish, brownish splotches), you can spray your trees with a basal bark fungicide. Call Good News Tree Service, Inc. for information on this treatment.
Verticillium Wilt: The fall is the best time to treat, and spring is the second best time. Maples are especially plagued by this disease. During hot weather, symptoms include smaller than normal cupped leaves in the upper canopy, often with the death of the entire branch occurring.

Elsewhere in the Garden

Put slug bait around your flowers and tender perennials like hostas.

Apply two to three inches of mulch (e.g. bark dust, garden compost or wood chips) on all of your shrub beds. Covering bare dirt areas in your yard with mulch helps to prevent soil compaction from rains, and weed growth, and helps to enrich our heavy clay soils.
Cut English ivy off of the base of trees. (This can be done any time of the year.)
Feed the birds. Dutifully maintain your bird feeders. Bring life and excitement to your backyard by turning it into a bird sanctuary. The birds will thank you for your generosity by providing you with hours of entertainment, and by eating insect pests that harm your ornamental trees and shrubs. Birds in the yard are not only fun to watch, but they perform the vital task of eating harmful insects. Keep bird baths full. In hot and dry weather, birds need water to drink and to bathe in.
This is a good time of the year to plant trees and shrubs. Visit your local nursery and select your favorite ornamental shrubs and shade trees. After planting your new shrubs, just make sure that you water them well immediately and regularly subsequently for the first two or three summers until their roots get established. During warm weather (in the 60s to low 80s), deep root water once per week. During hot weather (mid-80s and higher) deep root water at least twice per week.
Fertilize your lawn. The cooler, wetter fall weather is also an excellent time to overseed your lawn to fill in the thin and bare areas.

Rose Care

Mid to late fall: Prune your roses down by about one-third and remove any dead flowers and dead or diseased canes.
Anytime of the year: Heavily mulch your roses. Organic mulch (such as wood chips, rotted compost, rotted manure) is the best. While barkdust helps to hold moisture in the soil, it contains little or no nutrients, so it doesn’t feed the soil and thus won’t feed your roses.
For more information on the care of roses, go to the Portland Rose Society website at https://www.portlandrosesociety.org/all_about_roses.html.

Lawn Care

July Through September

Summer lawn maintenance. Summer is about mowing, watering, and pest control. Stay on top of mowing for a healthy lawn.
Irrigation. Water deeply, slowly and as infrequently as possible. Try to avoid watering established lawns more than two or three times per week if possible except during extremely hot conditions. It is not a bad idea to let the soil under your grass to dry out for a short time in between watering as this forces the grass roots to grow deeper in search of water thus making for a more drought tolerant lawn. It is best not to rely on timers for irrigation as temperatures will dictate water needs in addition to lack of rainfall. However, timers are helpful if you have lawns areas that are too large to micromanage or if you will be away for a period of time.
Mowing. Mow once a week, removing no more than one-third of the height of the grass to avoid stressing it. Mow regularly to prevent weed seed spread.
Letting your lawn go dormant. If you want to save on your water bill during the summer months, you can skip watering your lawn if you don’t mind it turning brown. It is not dead; it is merely sleeping or in a dormant state. When the rains start up again in the fall, your lawn will turn green and start growing again.